American Bred REDONE Episode 1: Energy Crisis
by American Companion
Summary: The Doctor has met another human female. At least, she used to be human. Maybe she never was. Depends on whether you ask her or the Doctor. She's certainly American though, and that's not the only reason she shouldn't be left to run around the comos on her own.
1. Chapter 1

Kavrin sat up suddenly with a gasp and looked wildly around her. This wasn't home! This wasn't even…it wasn't even the school! Or the alley. Or that…wherever the other place had been. That skinny dude called it a…a TARDIS?

She closed her eyes against the bright light reflecting off the white walls. It smelled like a hospital in here.

Kavrin looked down at her hands, trying to remember what had happened. It'd been the dance…she'd snuck out and changed out of her dress…heard a ruckus…peaked at the situation and retrieved the gun from her locker…yelled at someone…shot the someone…ran…was bit by something big and red…

She opened her right hand and looked at the rock in it. And all because of this thing? What was it supposed to do?

Kavrin hissed as a sharp pain filled her chest. She gasped for a few second, feeling oddly stretched. Then the pain disappeared and she sat in shock at what replaced it.

"Another heartbeat? How do I have—?"

She inhaled, touching her throat. "My voice. That's not me."

Kavrin took a closer look at her hands. Her skin was too pale. The birthmark on her left forearm was gone. She had no freckles.

Throwing back the covers she stumbled to the mirror in the corner and nearly screamed. Her entire face had narrowed, her right eye was now green, and her gold-brown hair had dark red streaks in it. She pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to control her breathing.

"This is a dream. This is a dream. I'm dreaming. I fell asleep watching a movie and I'm dreaming. I'm going to wake up on the couch at home. This has to be a dream."

She heard a hiss, like a door sound effect from STAR TREK, and whirled around. A tall woman in a white habit-like dress stood in the doorway, holding a tray. She seemed surprised.

"Oh, you're awake. Usually your kind takes much longer to finish."

"What did you do to me? Where am I?"

"We did nothing to you child," the nurse said as she set the tray down.

"I didn't change my voice overnight!" Kavrin shouted. "And I know that—" A pang went through the left side of her face, cutting off her words. She felt something wet by her eye and touched it. Her fingers came away, red mixed with purple.

She stared wildly into the mirror and stepped backwards in horror. Her left eye had turned green and purple blood was creeping out of the sides.

"You're still changing," the nurse said as she stepped closer. "Pain is normal."

Kavrin spun to face her. "Don't you dare use that needle on me."

"It's only pain killer. Stand still."

Kavrin glanced at the bedside table, catching sight of a sort of familiar looking dagger. She dashed forward under the woman's arm and grabbed it, shaking from the strange amount of speed she'd displayed. Pointing the dagger at the nurse, Kavrin asked again, "What did you do to me? This isn't me."

The nurse seemed peeved. "You'd think with a system like that the Rahki would pick you up faster. Really, it's so inconvenient when you Jahra change without remembering first."

"Remembering…what?"

"That whatever silly life you had wasn't yours. You replaced someone else who was truly important, Jahra. You're a clone, and now you're shifting back. Now hold still," she repeated, brandishing the needle.

Kavrin swiped at her with the knife, taking off several of her fingers. The woman screamed in pain, but it was canceled out by Kavrin's own.

Kavrin's shriek was a mix of pain and horror. One of the fingers had hit her as it flew, and a painful electric shock had run through her as the finger turned to dust.

Stumbling backwards, Kavrin left the woman in the room and fell into the hallway.

People were everywhere, several of them stopping to stare at her. "Can I help you?" another white-habit woman asked. She reached out to help Kavrin up.

Remembering the finger, Kavrin scrambled backwards, brandishing her dagger. "Stay away from me."

The woman remained composed. "Child, give me the knife. You'll only—"

"No. Stay back."

Kavrin gasped as more pain hit her abdomen. Again she felt stretched, like something was moving in her. Catching sight of her hair as it fell forward, she saw it was now all red.

The woman took a phone off of the nearby wall. "I need the Doctor in the South end of the Recovery Ward. She's awake."

Kavrin took the hint and ran. She kept stumbling, not used to the inordinate amount of speed she'd suddenly gained. People stood back as she moved through the halls, waving her knife blindly at anyone who tried to approach her.

One man, a security guard, grabbed her arm. "Hold on—"

Kavrin felt the same electric pain the finger had created surge through her arm and she yanked away. The security guard fell back, looking unnaturally pale and strangely old. He touched a communicator in his ear as she kept going. Even as she turned the corner she could still hear him.

"I have a Jahra in the West end of the Recovery Ward. She's headed for the Observation Deck."

This was wrong. This was so wrong. Her stomach hurt, like something was growing and moving in her. Her voice was completely changed, and her face was all wrong. There was too much noise; everything was so much louder! And the colors were so bright, too bright.

This wasn't her. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. It had to be a dream, a horrible night—

She collapsed on the floor, mind halting mid-thought. A song, a terrible painful song crashed into her mind. It wasn't loud, but it was so strong! The singer was in pain, horrific pain. They were dying!

Kavrin shut her eyes, trying to block out the sound, but it didn't leave. It only made it worse because another thing was wrong; she didn't stop seeing the hall or the people.

She was outside herself; everything had become third person, like a computer game. But the colors were wrong. It was as if a thermal camera had been installed in her brain, but badly. Blue bounced around everywhere, purple came out of peoples' heads, and everything had different levels of green and red stuck to it.

Kavrin clung to the wall, using the support to help her stand. She forced herself to move, no longer escaping the people but the terrible, horrible, miserable, agonizing song.

The song didn't leave though. It chased her, as if now that it had found her it wouldn't let go. Her head pounded as she felt even her brain stretching. Another heartbeat joined the first two.

Blindly she slammed through a set of doors. The roof was all glass, showing the sky and the view. But…but even that was wrong! Two suns, and the grass and the trees were the wrong color, and the sky was…it was yellow.

She backed up into the doors she'd entered by only to find them locked.

"Kavrin."

She whirled around, knife held in front of her as her other hand clenched tighter around the rock she still clung to.

"Who said that?"

"Over here," a British voice said, almost as if calling to a child. She jerked to the right, catching sight of a tall, skinny man in a pin-stripe suit.

"You!"

"Yeah, people say that a lot," the brown haired man said, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm starting to think I should change my name, except that 'The You' doesn't sound as impressive as 'The Doctor.' "

"This is your fault," Kavrin said, walking towards him. "I don't know how, but you brought me here. What did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything Kavrin," the Doctor said quietly, standing his ground. "Not this time."

"This time? Have you kidnapped others and done this to them? What _did_ you do? Brain transplant? Some kind of weird, tweaked out plastic surgery?"

She stumbled, more pain shooting through her. Words from the song she had in her head tumbled out of her mouth, making no sense to her.

"What did you say?" the Doctor said, sounding faintly astonished.

"You should know!" Kavrin yelled, waving the knife at him as she stood straight again. "You're the one who brought me here. You're the one who—" She cut herself off, remembering.

"Those things. They're still there."

"What things?"

Kavrin held the knife straight out, a different, more determined look in her eye. "Take me back. I don't care what you do with me afterwards, or what you already did, but I have to go back home _now_."

"What's so important about home?"

"Those Grixzen are still there!" Kavrin yelled. "They already killed one person and I only made them mad! I've got what they want, I have to go back and help everyone!"

"Is it that rock? What is it?"

"I don't know, but if they want it they can have it! My family's down there. They could be killed!" She held the knife point an inch from his face. "Now take me back."

"I can't."

Kavrin blinked, surprised at the matter-of-factness of the statement. "What?"

"I can't. Well, technically I could. But no."

"Then give me a very, very good reason I shouldn't kill you now."

The Doctor didn't seem flustered. "Because I don't think you can, Kavrin. It's not who you are."

"I'm _not_ me," she said, her voice shaking a bit. "You've changed me. I've got three hearts. My face and voice belong to someone else. My blood isn't even red."

"That's because the red blood, round face, and deeper voice belong to a girl back on Earth. Not you."

"I live on Earth. I've been living there for fifteen years."

"That's not you Kavrin. Never was."

Kavrin swallowed. She wanted to argue, had thousands of memories that protested against the Doctor's words. But something in his face told her he wasn't lying.

"That's not possible," she insisted, retreating from his eyes.

"Word of the Last Time Lord."

"Then…then what am I?"

"You're a copy. You're a replacement for the real Kavrin on Earth, meant to live her life until the day she died. You'll be reclaimed, erased, given a new life and sent to replace someone else."

Kavrin started wheezing, like he'd punched her. Again, she stepped backwards, dropping the knife. "You're lying," she said, still refusing to believe it.

The eyes didn't relent. "Then explain why you knew the aliens at your school were the Grixzen."

Kavrin's eyes widened. "I…I…" Tears came unbidden to her eyes and she dropped to her knees, staring at nothing. "I don't know. I…I don't." She pressed a hand to her mouth.

"I can't go back."

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*

Yes, this story has the same title as another story I have. When I first wrote the original story, I thought it was good. I now know it's not. I'm over-hauling the whole series. Nothing is being added to the storyline. If you really wanted to, you could go read the whole series right now. I suggest you don't. They're really not very good, not the first stories anyway. It'd be a much better idea for you to wait while I post my new chapters.

Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor looked at Kavrin for a moment. Either this was part of her act, or something had gone wrong with her programming and she still didn't remember what she was. He didn't really think it was the second choice; Jahra were always conscious of the fact that they weren't actually the person, like…like actors on a stage playing their parts extremely well.

Yet…Kavrin certainly _looked_ like she was in distress. And there was the running through the halls…and she would have killed him if she'd known she was Jahra and everything that came with that…and then there was what she'd said when she'd stumbled…

"What did you say?"

Kavrin looked blankly at him. "What do you mean?"

"A few minutes ago, you said something…could you repeat it?"

She turned away, shrugging. "I don't know. It's…just something I keep hearing. A song."

"Something you heard on Earth?"

"No. I picked it up a few minutes ago…in the halls." Kavrin looked back at him, her eyes forcefully devoid of tears. "What am I, exactly?"

"You should already know."

"But I don't," Kavrin said, standing up to face the Doctor. Her composure was obviously forced. "Until five minutes ago, I was a girl from Earth who'd gone through some sort of creepy operation and wanted to wake up from my nightmare. Now I'm…what did you call me, a Jahra?"

"Well, I already said that you're a clone," the Doctor said, deciding to play along for a bit. "The Rahki are one of the major races with time traveling technology. They made a mess of it at first—changing history, that sort of thing—and were ordered to find a better, risk-free way. So, they came up with a system of collecting memories from different time periods. They grow a Jahra, a clone like you, and put all the facts, details, and characteristics of someone into their mind. Usually an important, history creating, noteworthy someone, like…like whoever your current President is."

"Go with Winston Churchill," Kavrin said. "Better analogy, and I really don't think our—" Kavrin stopped with a slight grimace. "Try this again. I don't think that _their_ President is particularly noteworthy. Well, besides being the first African American one."

"Oh, you're on him?" the Doctor asked, not giving anything away with his tone.

Kavrin shrugged. "Yeah. They are. So, what's with the body swapping?"

"Ah yes, well, after that you get your physiology changed to match the real person, you get put in their place. After that, you act out their life like someone on a movie screen. When you're about to die, or when you pass the really important turning point, you get reclaimed. Your memories are downloaded, your mind is erased and filled with the life of someone else. Off you go again."

"Who do we get to thank for that sort of hell?" Kavrin asked bluntly. The Doctor was a bit surprised.

"I wouldn't exactly think of it as 'hell,'" he said. "Your mind is wiped of all personal memories; you wouldn't miss anyone."

"Oh, and I would just love to live my life never having one," Kavrin said scathingly. "I would beg to have some creep suck out my feelings and memories and everything that made _me_, just so I could…play act!"

Kavrin stepped very close to the Doctor and looked him in the eye. "Well I don't give a damn who you think you are, Doctor." His name sounded more like an insult than a title. "This is my life, those are memories I lived, and I have a bloody _right_ to it. I will figure out what's wrong with my head and my vision, and I'll get out. If the Rahki want _my life_, they'll have to get it over my—dead—body."

She turned away from him, scooped up her dagger, and deftly kicked the doors open. "Out of my way!" Kavrin snarled at the group of people who'd been peering through the windows, waving her arms irately. An isle cleared and she disappeared back in the direction of her room.

The hospital Matron, Shravin, slipped inside the room and over to where the Doctor stood. "She seems…"

"Like a reckless child who's going to go cry for a few hours before getting up and taking the universe by storm."

"I was going to say 'dangerous' and 'unstable' but your assessment is close enough." Matron Shravin folded her hands into her sleeves. "She still has her blade."

"She won't use it on anyone," the Doctor said. "She was…running scared before. It'll be fine."

"She's behaving rather oddly for a Jahra," the Matron said doubtfully. "Do you think that it's part of her character?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted with a sigh. The Matron was silent for a moment.

"I'm going to call the Rahki," the Matron stated. "I know that they have the tracking systems in all their Jahra, but they seem to be taking their time with this one. I want her gone. She's a danger, and definitely malfunctioning. She needs to be removed."

The Doctor glanced at her, then back to the door. "Yeah. Yeah, maybe you're right."

* * *

Kavrin made it back to her room without further mishap. Everyone had stared at her as though they thought she would explode, but they'd left her alone.

Alone. She closed her eyes in pain at the thought.

A moment later she opened them again. What was with the colors? They were…they were everywhere! Would she never have a moment's peace from the world again?

"Don't bother with that, Kavrin." She bit her lip. "Talk out loud. Get used to the new voice. New face…that comes later. Much later. Got to figure out what I'm going to do. I don't even know where I am." She laughed humorlessly. "I might not even know when I am!"

She frowned. "That fly-boy Doctor probably knows…but I don't really want to talk to him. He's obviously got something against me. Or maybe I have something against him?"

Kavrin dropped her head into the hand not clinging to the rock, sighing. "Facts. What do I already know?

"One: I seem to be stronger physically than before. Two: I seem to have…three hearts. Three: My blood is purple. Four: I see weird colors when I close my eyes. Five: The song has lessened some but is still in my head.

"Side note: I don't know what this song is, or why I get to hear it, but it hurts. Whoever's singing is in agony. It feels like an emotional S.O.S. Fly-boy seemed to recognize it."

Kavrin fell backwards on the bed, staring at the too-white ceiling. Was it especially clean, or did she have better eyesight than before? More unknowns. She looked at the smooth black rock she couldn't seem to let go of. Why did she care about it so much? Why had the Grixzen?

Another tangent; how _had _she known what they were? That Doctor had asked a valid question.

Kavrin huffed. Everything was coming back to the Doctor. Who was he anyway? She re-ran her conversation with him through her mind.

She pressed her hand against her mouth as the worst of it came to mind: _"You're a copy. You're a replacement for the real Kavrin on Earth, meant to live her life until the day she died. You'll be reclaimed, erased, given a new life and sent to replace someone else._

_ "You're a copy…a replacement. Copy, replacement. Copy, copy, copy._

Kavrin folded her hands over her face, curling up on the bed and starting to cry. She was a fake. Her whole life… and it wasn't even hers! Her mom and dad and brother and friends and feelings and memories and house and room and dogs and…and…and it wasn't even her! But that didn't leave her with…with anything. Or anyone. She wasn't anything. She was no one, and nothing, and she was dying from the pain but her family…what about her family? What about the real one?

Kavrin sat up abruptly. She hadn't died…so was the real Kavrin still wherever the Rahki kept their victims? Or…or was she put back in the alley with those Grixen and torn to shreds?

"_Usually an important, history creating, noteworthy someone…"_

"No…no, she'd be put back alive to keep history flowing…right? Or… or was the rescue the important thing and she died in the process?"

A dark image of her family standing around a grave with her name on it flashed into her mind. It was so vivid that Kavrin could almost smell the flowers on the casket.

"But I'm not dead!" Kavrin burst out before biting her hand to stop further outbursts. The last thing she needed was a sedative for being reckless.

"But I'm not really alive," she whispered. "How can I be? What did Fly-boy say? I'll be erased…Reclaimed and erased. I'm…I'm a video tape. That's all. I'm not even a person…independent thought? My brain belongs to Kavrin. Who might be dead."

She gave a shuddering breath. "Oh, I hope not. She…she deserves a life. Something amazing…"

Kavrin fell back on the bed. "But I want to live! Oh Mom, I want to live!"

* * *

The Doctor took the stethoscope off the wall next to her bed, leaving her to mourn in privacy. So he'd used the next door room to spy on her. Wasn't the first time he'd done it, and he wanted to know who she was, who she really was.

The most likely choice had been that she was a normal Jahra still playing her part for whatever reason. But now—unless she was still acting even though caught—it seemed as though she'd never known and something really had gone wrong with her revision. But that didn't seem very likely. Jahra always knew they were acting.

Of course, his second theory did have another hole; why was she changing back outside of Rahki labs? Wasn't there a particular serum or code you entered into the Jahra to switch them back to the base code? Or did it just happen at a pre-set time, like a kitchen timer?

The Doctor suddenly realized that he didn't know. He'd never paid that much attention to the Rahki or the Jahra.

Maybe he should have looked in on the process a little more. He'd heard rumors of so called 'rogue Jahra,' clones who had taken off on their own life, refusing to play the part anymore. The Doctor had never actually met one, but some of the stories had to be true. Was this what it was like?

No, couldn't be. Kavrin really seemed sincere about what she'd thought all her life; that she was the original, the one and only. And suddenly she'd lost her life and identity in the space of a half hour.

The Doctor felt, for the first time, pity for her. No, not so much pity as empathy. He knew what that was like, to lose everything. Or almost everything. He'd still known who he was when Gallifrey died. He'd still had the TARDIS. But he did know what Kavrin was feeling.

He rubbed his forehead, banishing the emotions. He had to think. The Doctor reflected on their second conversation.

Those words she'd spoken in a moment of pain. He didn't think that anyone else knew that language anymore. But she didn't really; Kavrin had said there was a song in her head. Who'd be singing in a language with no name and sending it through her? Try as he might, the Doctor hadn't picked up on anything. Was Kavrin an even stronger telepath than he was, or had the song been programed into her? No, the Rahki wouldn't know something like that. So someone in the hospital was screaming for help.

And then, when Kavrin had been making her statement at the end, she said she'd find out what was wrong with her vision. The Doctor got the feeling she didn't mean she was blind, so there had to be something else.

He stood up decisively. He needed to speak with her.

He glanced at the wall. In a few hours. She wouldn't speak to anyone, particularly him, just now.

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	3. Chapter 3

Kavrin was sitting cross-legged on her bed, chin in hand, eyes closed, and a contemplative look on her face when the Doctor walked in. She didn't seem to know he was there.

After he'd been staring at her for a few minutes, she finally spoke, her voice cold. "What do you want?"

"To figure out what's wrong with you."

"Ah-ha!" she burst out, snapping her fingers.

"What?" It sounded as though she'd made some kind of marvelous discovery.

"Blue is sound. Still working on the purple, but green and red are light and heat, I think. Not sure who's who yet." She opened her eyes to glare at the Doctor. "You can get out now."

The Doctor pulled a nearby chair over and sat in it. "Not until I've got some answers from you."

"Nuh-yuh," Kavrin said. "You seem to be Mr. Know-It-All, or you think you do. I want explanations, and I need them more than you do. So, we'll start from the beginning; the very, very beginning. Who do I get to thank for this hell?"

"Come again?"

"What thoughtless, stuck-up race decided that the…what's-the-name, Rahki. Who decided that the Rahki could constantly give and then rip lives from people's heads and go using them like…like trading cards!?"

"Well, at the time the leading race in time travel—the seat of power in the universe—were the Time Lords. The Council would have gotten together and made the decision."

Kavrin's eyes narrowed and she pointed at him. "Hang on. You told me a few hours ago that you were the Last Time Lord, whatever that is." She gave a humorless laugh. "Oh, that just fits so well. This really _is_ all your fault. You were the one who brought me here. That's just…peachy."

"What makes you think I was on the Council?"

"Because you'd just fit right in with a batch of self-righteous know-it-alls." Kavrin took a deep breath. "Moving on. How did I get from a back alley in Lake County to wherever you were floating in your little ship?"

"You'd have to tell me your side of the events first."

"Nice try. I want my answers first." Kavrin thought for a moment. "When I first woke up, I was in the middle of genetic plastic surgery or something, and then the nurse said I was still changing. How does that work?"

The Doctor looked peeved, but answered anyway. "Your base plate is Jahra. Even when your physiology is changed to match whatever species you're becoming part of, the Jahra DNA is…sort of buried underneath it all. Makes it easier to reactivate when they reclaim you."

"You make me sound like a lost robot."

"Close enough."

The Doctor could see she was thinking something particularly nasty at him, but her words were more to the point. "How did I 'reactivate' as you so kindly put it?"

"Gixzen poison is mostly acid, but it targets and eats away at your DNA."

"So in essence, my human blood was consumed and the Jahra code popped up."

"Yep. And since Jahra, like most species, are physically more resilient than humans, you were able to withstand the poison long enough for me to bring you here and save you."

"Don't expect any thanks for that." Kavrin seemed to debate the next question before hurriedly saying it. "What about Kavrin? The…the first one. The real one."

"What about her?"

"Do they keep the real people in stasis somewhere, or are they killed during the first swap?"

"In case of an accident, the 'real people' as you say are kept unconscious, but growing along with their Jahra counterpart. There _is_ a signal channeling the memories and experiences directly into the real person, but it's not entirely reliable. That's why people get amnesia after an accident, and then regain their memories after a bit. It's just the Rahki giving them their lives back."

"So the real one gets put back where they should be once the Jahra is removed?"

"Any last minute changes—bruises, cuts, scars, hair coloring—are added just before putting them back so that it's a perfect match."

Kavrin seemed to get a bit worried. "Then the real Kavrin was, essentially, bitten by that Grixzen?"

"Yeah."

"Then she's dead."

The Doctor wasn't sure what to make of the girl's empty tone. "Probably." He looked harder at her. "Bothered?"

Kavrin seemed to come back from somewhere. "I can't go back whether she is or isn't. If she's alive, I'm not taking her place, and if she's dead I won't do that either." Kavrin pushed some hair behind her ear. "What happened to my clothes after they put me in the hospital gown?"

"Burned. They were too torn to be of any use."

"Was there anything in the pockets?"

"Did you leave something in the pockets?"

Kavrin shrugged. "Probably. I was always doing that. Thought there might be a penny I could drill a hole in and wear for good luck, that's all. No big."

The Doctor frowned slightly, though it was more of a confused frown. He knew what she had put in her back jeans pocket; he had it in his jacket out of the hope that he could find out more about her from it. Why hadn't she mentioned it?

"What about my revolver?"

"I threw it into the lake a mile down the road. You said you were what, fifteen? A girl your age should know not to have those things."

"I know what they do, Fly-boy," Kavrin said with an edge to her voice. "Trust me, I know quite well what guns do to people." She glanced away. "It's good you got rid of it."

The Doctor didn't have time to ponder the statement before she spoke again. "I'm good for the moment. Your turn."

"How did you know what the Grixzen were?"

"I've been asking myself the same thing. I hadn't even heard the word, didn't know I'd said it until you pointed it out. I certainly didn't know what they were when I first saw them."

"I suppose it could be leftover information from ones of your past personas."

Kavrin refused to react to the obvious barb. "What exactly are the Grixzen?"

"Mercenaries, but very good ones. Once they agree to a job, they follow it through. Useful if you don't want them bought by your enemies."

"Follow it through?" She seemed worried. "So they could still be running around Lake County eating people."

"I doubt it," the Doctor said, wanting to comfort her for some reason. "Once you vanished, they had no reason to stay. They're single-minded, but not mindless."

"So who would hire them?"

"I don't know," the Doctor lied with a sigh. "Any number of races I suppose. Probably someone with a grudge against the Rahki. Maybe the real Kavrin creates a future that someone wanted stopped. What was her full name?"

Kavrin looked at him from half-closed eyes. "None of your business. If she's dead the theory is moot; if she's alive she doesn't need you to create a magnificent life for herself."

"Alright. From your point of view, how did you get to my ship?"

"Lona stuck me on the decorating committee for the Prom. Lucky me. So, I was trapped at the school when people started showing. I put on a dress but got sick of playing 'Future Politicians' with a pack of people I don't like." Her lip twitched. "That might be the one good thing I get out of this mess; I never have to worry about seeing them again."

"You had that much against your classmates?"

"We didn't see eye to eye. They all had this strange idea that they could treat their parents like dirt and act like self-absorbed snots and still get ahead in life. Being the same age as the Freshman in my Senior year didn't fly well either. Neither did the fact I took summer classes and was pretty much finished with my Bachelors when I graduated."

"Pleasant. What happened after you left the dance?"

"I put my civvies back on and sat in the locker room with a collection of Agatha Christie's short stories. I can't drive yet, so had to wait for my parents to pick me up. I was right in the middle of a Harley Quin mystery when I heard screams coming from the gym. I peeked out of the locker room, expecting to see the Juniors pulling some kind of prank. Instead, I'm greeted by the sight of ten, seven-foot tall dark red linebackers that look like they ran through a STAR TREK convention."

"What?"

"They had Klingon style foreheads and Andorian antennae. The guns they were waving were more like phaser rifles than water pistols, so I used the other locker room door to get outside and to the main school building where my locker is. Once I'd gotten my revolver—"

"Why did you keep a gun in your school locker?"

Kavrin's look was just a tad smug. "You don't need to know. Accept the fact I kept one there, and move on."

"Fine."

"I got back to the main doors of the gym. One of the teachers already looked very dead, and Boss Grixzen was pitching a fit over a transporter that looked like a rock. It fit the description of mine, so I decided to bluff it. I sauntered in and shot out a light to get some attention, exchanged mostly friendly words that basically meant, 'if you want it come and get it' and stuffed the rock in my bra. Easiest way to carry something and protect it. Boss Grixzen had a problem with that, so he had some of his goons draw knives on some of the other kids. So, I shot the three of them and took off running."

"You shot them? Just like that?"

"I wasn't about to have ignorant blood spilled when I had the option to stop it."

The Doctor's forehead wrinkled. "Ignorant?"

"Can't exactly say 'innocent' with some of the…disturbing scenes I came across, but they were certainly a stupid bunch."

The Doctor smiled slightly. "Understood. Where'd you run too?"

"We've got a wanna-be shopping center near the high school I went to, about half a mile away. I knew it would be empty there, so I went that way. One of the Grixzen caught up with me and tried to mug me for my rock. In the process he nearly ripped my shoulder off with his teeth. I was able to find the knife in the back of his belt and stab him while he was still on me." Kavrin gestured to the jagged dagger sitting on her bedside table. "I guess I didn't let go of it. I managed to get up, upon which I spun around and crashed into the wall of your wardrobe. From there, everything's fuzzy." Kavrin tilted her head. "Why do you have so many clothes? You aren't from San Francisco, are you?"

The Doctor ignored the jab. "You pick up a lot of stuff in nine hundred and three years."

"That's old."

"Hey!"

"I mean, that's really, really old." Kavrin looked the Doctor up and down with wide eyes. "How much do you pay for plastic surgery? I mean seriously, that's old!"

"Time Lord's live a long time!"

"How many times have you had hip replacements?"

"Ten."

"What happened after I crashed into your wall?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the red-head. "Right. I was going to catch a super-nova to when and where ever when I heard you crash into my closet. Didn't know what it was, so I followed the sound."

There was a slight pause. "And then…" Kavrin prompted.

"And then you shot me."

"I…shot you?" Kavrin asked, eyebrows lifting. "Where?"

The Doctor turned his head to one side and then the other, showing Kavrin two perfectly shaved lines of hair going back from his temples. Kavrin smiled. "Oh, I am such a good shot. And so not sorry."

"I didn't think you'd apologize. You gave me your name—though my guess is it's a nickname of some kind—and we chatted. Sort of. You kept insisting I take you back because you'd been in the middle of something important. Then you jabbered about your rock before passing out. I brought you here and you know the rest."

The Doctor leaned forward in his chair. "Now, I need to examine that rock of yours." He held out his hand expectantly.

"Try to take it and I'll feed you your own tongue."

"Well you're certainly pleasant about it," he said wryly. "Why do you care about it so much? You haven't let go of it since you pulled it out on the TARDIS."

Kavrin hesitated. It was as if she didn't know herself and was trying to find an answer to satisfy both of them. "I found it during a camping trip on the beach when I was ten," she began slowly. "It's really all I have left of what I used to have."

"Fair enough," the Doctor said, knowing that there had to be more. "Could you hold it up so I can see it?"

Kavrin lifted the rock, holding it between her pointer finger and thumb. The Doctor peered at it as she rotated it slowly.

It was, in all reality, a plain rock that you could find on any beach. It had a smooth oval shape from being beaten against the rocks and sand by the waves. The rock wasn't quite a perfect oval, one side being a bit thicker than the other, adding to the idea it had been made naturally. Though it was completely black, the Doctor could see something crusted on the surface.

"What's that dark stuff?"

Kavrin scratched at it and it flaked off dark purple and rusty brown. "Looks like blood," she observed. "Probably from when my shoulder was bit."

Suddenly it clicked in the Doctor's head. "It's a DNA transporter. But those come preprogrammed," he mused, unconsciously reaching for it.

In the space of half a second, the rock vanished from sight and Kavrin gripped his wrist tightly with her other hand. Her eyes glared into his.

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	4. Chapter 4

The staring match lasted a few seconds before Kavrin blinked in surprise. Loosening her grip but not letting go she tilted his arm, looking at the hold she had on his bare wrist.

"What?" the Doctor asked. Kavrin shook her head and let go.

"Nothing. Just more questions. Continue with the rock thing. DNA transporter."

"Right." The Doctor automatically fell into his usual show-off stance. "A DNA transporter is a highly selective form of travel. You pre-program it to have a single destination, and to only transport the person with that exact genetic code at the pre-set time."

Kavrin clicked her teeth together, absorbing that information. "So—o, let me make sure I'm clear on this. I found a rock on a beach when I was ten, that already had a sample of my DNA in it, and came with instructions to just drop me off in your ship when it turned on?"

"Sort of," the Doctor said, agreeing with the disbelieving tone in Kavrin's voice. "I think the Rahki were planning to be in that area of space when it turned on. My best guess is that the mix of Grixzen poison, your human code, and your new Jahra cells confused the thing and sent you early, which caused you to run into me."

Kavrin sighed. "Aren't I the lucky child. That still doesn't explain why they had me find it on a beach. Isn't that chancy?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I stopped trying to figure out the Rahki a long time ago."

Kavrin nodded in agreement. "I can go with that. But doesn't transportation take a lot of power?"

"Ah, that's my next question, which you actually answered when I came in. How active were you?"

"Come again?"

"I'm trying to figure out your personal outlet."

"For stress?"

"No, for energy."

Kavrin looked at the Doctor as though he was missing a few marbles. "I wasn't much of one for team sports, if that's what you mean."

"Sort of."

Kavrin raised her eyebrows slightly. "If you're preparing another insult you might as well spit it out."

"Why would I—? Never mind. I heard about your…attack on the nurse earlier."

"I hope they can regrow fingers at this point in time. Whenever it is."

"The year 5001, planet Zroink, and yes they can."

"Zroink? Well, the name Earth isn't much better. So, what about the lost fingers?"

"She mentioned one turned to ash when it hit you."

Kavrin watched the Doctor carefully. "And I assume you have the answer to the obvious question."

"You absorb energy."

"Clarify."

"Well, everyone absorbs different energy types to some extent; light comes in through our eyes to see, sound through the ears to hear, heat to make our muscles work, that sort of thing. Some people take in types better than others. A faster person would take in more heat than a non-athlete. Better mental or physical abilities are linked to the rate of absorption—"

"Point Fly-boy," Kavrin cut him off.

"You've probably started noticing the affects; greater speed and better reaction time, improved vision and hearing, things like that. It's likely been going on for your whole life, which is why you were able to teleport such a distance. You'll be able to heal faster than most people would, and I expect that you'll live for a very long time."

"There's a catch."

"Your personal absorption has increased exponentially since you reverted. You absorb energy at a deadly rate. If you touch anyone you have the potential to kill them within ten seconds, depending on their age. Skin to skin contact with people is deadly to them."

"And the finger turned to ash because it was no longer attached to the woman and ran out of energy," Kavrin said, swallowing as the information sunk in. She clicked her teeth together, sighing.

"Hoc est non die."

"You speak Latin?"

Kavrin gave him a look. "Vous avez un problème avec ça?"

"French too. No, no problem, it's just…unusual for a girl your age."

"Oh, I'm a girl now," Kavrin said sarcastically. "Not a robot. My status has been upped. I'm so happy. I speak several languages fairly well. More optional summer classes. What else did you want to know?"

"Where did you start hearing the song?"

"I don't know; I was sort of in a panic when I picked it up. What's it supposed to be?"

"You're the one hearing it."

Kavrin threw her arms up in a shrug. "Yeah, and all I know is it's a group singing and they are beyond miserable. Otherwise…pfft." She looked closely at the Doctor. "You understood what I said in my moment of pain, didn't you?"

"Yes. I know all five billion languages, but I didn't think anyone knew that particular one anymore." The Doctor inhaled deeply. "A long time ago—oh, so long ago, the universe had one language. Everyone's forgotten it now, 'cept me. There's no direct translation, but from what you said, it's a general S.O.S. Could be more, but I'd have to hear the rest of it to know."

Kavrin's gaze was somehow sharper than before, but her voice was quiet enough. "You're big on the self-guilt and you expect condemnation from others. Touch of self-pity, almost want it from people you meet. You lost your family and you blame yourself, so you play hero whenever you can."

"Pardon?" the Doctor said sharply. Kavrin lifted her hand in a surrendering gesture.

"Sorry. I tend to analyze everyone I meet; sometimes I say it instead of thinking it." She cleared her throat. "So, alien song. How do you plan to pick up the rest of it?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow and Kavrin caught on. She shook her head. "No. Absolutely not."

"Kavrin—"

"You stay out of my head, Fly-boy."

The door to Kavrin's room opened and a nurse stepped in carrying a bundle. She nodded to the Doctor before turning to Kavrin.

"Your owners have been called; they'll be here in a few hours." The nurse held out the bundle. "I've brought a change of clothes to replace the gown you have on. It's the basic outfit of a Jahra."

Kavrin got off the bed and walked toward the nurse. She looked down at the clothes and then back to the woman.

"No."

"Pardon?"

"I said no, and that's what it means." Kavrin was completely calm, but the Doctor could sense the anger boiling under the surface. "I will not bow to the Rahki's wants. My name is Kathryn Moore, and I'm a person, not a robot. I will find a way out of this place and make my own way through the cosmos, and the only way I'm giving up my life is if I die. So I suggest you take your act elsewhere, because I don't need it."

The nurse stiffened and narrowed her eyes, but nodded shortly and left. The Doctor was silent for a moment before turning to Kavrin/Kathryn.

"I didn't know you'd renamed yourself, Kathryn Moore."

"You didn't ask."

"Why change your name at all?"

"Bad enough I stole her life," Kathryn said, still staring at the door. She turned to the Doctor. "I'm not going to take her name as well."

Kathryn inhaled and straightened, gathering herself. "Now, I must ask you to leave. I've got a lot of planning to do and not a lot of time to do it."

The Doctor got up out of the chair and pointed to a spot on the wall. "See that there? It's a replicator. Should make anything you ask it to. On the other wall is a computer, though it might not be that helpful."

"Why the tip?" Kathryn asked suspiciously. "Why help a robot?"

The Doctor wasn't sure either, but said, "I've never met a rouge Jahra; before the Rahki get here it will be interesting to see how far you manage to get."

* * *

The replicator had helped; Kathryn was now comfortably dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, with sturdy shoes to go with them. She'd gotten herself a black messenger bag as well, putting a few essential items in it. Using the needle from her sewing kit and a replicated piece of leather, she'd created a rough sheath for her dagger and a necklace pouch for her rock. The compass watch was put in sync with the clock in her room.

The last thing she'd done was get herself a pair of scissors and a hair tie. Putting her waist length and now dark red hair in a low ponytail, she stood in front of her room mirror.

Kathryn studied herself for a moment, and then before she could change her mind she quickly cut through the pony tail. She let it drop, refusing to look at it yet as she finished styling her hair in a rough A-line.

Finally, Kathryn let herself pick up the eighteen inch section of hair she'd just removed. She studied it for a long moment before laying it down on her small bedside table. It was a strangely sad sight, but she didn't let the tears pricking her eyes come out. She faced herself in the mirror again, refusing to look away from her own eyes.

"My name is Kathryn Moore. I am fifteen years, ten days based upon Earth's calendar. I am my own species. I can find my own way, and survive on my own. I am intelligent and independent. I can find a way out and avoid the Rahki. I will live."

The pep talk only half-worked, so Kathryn decided to prove it to herself.

"I need a destination," she muttered to herself. Glancing over at the computer screen, and having no idea how to work it, she decided to go with the usual Sci-Fi approach.

"Computer," she said in a mostly commanding tone. Kathryn was rewarded by the screen flickering to life, showing a screen saver of the view from the Observation Deck.

"Good. Ah, Computer, show me a map of nearby planets."

She raised her eyebrows at the multitude of names, and one in particular.

"Zom. A planet named Zom. So we have Earth, Zroink, and Zom. Someone has to come up with better names for these places. Still, it might be a nice place to start. Sounds…decent enough." Kathryn sighed. "Now…how to get there?"

Kathryn rotated. "Door. Always a good beginning."

She approached the door and it slid open. Two armed guards turned to greet her.

"You're to stay here until the Rahki arrive."

"As if!" Kathryn protested. "I'm not a lost boot! So move it and tell me how to get out of here and we'll all be good."

"Orders. You're staying here."

Kathryn glared at the man, thinking about doing something drastic.

_If you touch anyone you have the potential to kill them…_

Kathryn inhaled deeply and nodded. "Fine then. You're the one with the gun." She stepped backwards and the door resealed. She looked down at her hands.

Was she really that dangerous? What use would there be for something like her?

A cold feeling danced down her spine. She replicated several pairs of gloves while thinking. How did this escape thing work in movies?

Movies were scripted and they always had an expert hacker to get past the computer, distract the guards, and then they snuck out of prison before saving the planet or girl or whatever was in peril at the time.

"Computer. It's a starting point."

Kathryn turned back to the screen. "Computer, does the hospital have security cameras in the hallways?"

"ZROINK INTERPLANETARY HOSPITAL IS SUPPLIED WITH THE BEST SECURITY PROGRAMS AVAILABLE. YOU ARE PERFECTLY SAFE."

"That doesn't make me feel any better. Who has access to the…Security Systems?"

"MATRON SHRAVIN AND CLEARED SECURITY STAFF."

"Let me see the access screen for the Security Systems."

"YOU HAVE NO NEED—"

"Oi! I'm the patient, and the human. Now cough it up."

Kathryn could have sworn the Computer sounded miffed. "VERY WELL."

A plain login screen blinked up on the display and a thin keyboard popped out from underneath. Kathryn blinked in surprise.

"Okay! So…what comes next?"

She looked back at the screen. Underneath the password box was a small line that Kathryn was so very used to seeing: Forgot your password?

She tapped the screen and another one popped up. She followed the links until, quite by accident, she pressed one that gave her a screen full of computer code, all binary.

For a second, Kathryn stared at it, beyond confused. She loved numbers and math, but this was ridiculous!

Kathryn frowned, perplexed as she started recognizing patterns. It felt the same as when she encountered a new type of math problem, but this wasn't exactly Calculus. Deciding to accept it as a streak of unusual brilliance, she allowed her mind to take over completely as her fingers danced along the keyboard, editing the lines of code. She sort of understood what she was doing, but had the strangest feeling that the second she looked away she would forget how it worked.

A few minutes later, she was staring at the outside view of her door and the two guards. She blinked in surprise.

"Alright. Well, I can work with this. Let's just move down the hall a bit…"

Kathryn peered at the screen. "Sprinkler systems. Are you serious? They haven't found a better fire killer than water? Oh well." Selecting a button on the screen, she started the fire sprinklers further down the hall. Quickly looking back at the video camera—or whatever they called them in the year 5001—she watched the two guards move down to investigate.

"See? I told you we were fine on our own," Kathryn told herself before slipping into the hallway and heading in the opposite direction from the distracted guards.

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	5. Chapter 5

It must have been night, because there were far less people moving about than before. Not that Kathryn was complaining; less people, less chance of being seen.

She paused for a moment, grimacing. The song was getting stronger—still not louder, just…clearer. More sure of reaching its destination, which right now seemed to be her. Which was odd.

Kathryn shrugged. Then again, everything today was odd. She wouldn't be shocked if gravity stopped working.

Straightening, she ignored the growing headache the singing was causing and walked forward. As Kathryn passed a hallway, she felt it dim a bit, so she backed up, looking down the hallway she'd passed.

"No. I should really leave," Kathryn told herself as she started walking down the hall carefully. "They'll be after me any second now, and the wall map said the entrance was the other way." She paused at a large, white, floor-to-ceiling cylinder. "I'm leaving now. Now I'm leaving." She walked around it, feeling that the singing was coming from it somehow. "And now I'm leaving."

"Doesn't look like it."

Kathryn spun around, her hand shooting to the dagger on her belt. She relaxed only slightly when she saw it was just the Doctor, though she noticed he was now in a trench coat as well as his pin-stripes.

"Go away. I don't like you."

"You don't seem to like very many people," the Doctor said, moving to join her in examining the pillar. "Classmates, Grixzen, Rahki, me. The list grows constantly."

"My classmates were stupid, the Grixzen bit me, the Rahki want to steal my brain, and you brought me here," Kathryn retorted. "Now what do you want?"

"I was watching you. Nice trick with the sprinklers. How'd you do it?"

Kathryn gave him a smug smile. "I'm good with computers."

"You hacked the system?" the Doctor exclaimed. "What sort of summer classes did you take?"

"A variety," Kathryn said truthfully. She returned to scrutinizing the pillar, going over it inch by inch. "Am I holding to your expectations of rouge Jahra?"

"Quite well," the Doctor answered smoothly. "Though I'm not sure why you stopped here."

"It's singing to me," Kathryn told him. "That's why you're really following me; I'm a new puzzle. Once you figure it out you'll go to another one. You're like a kid with a Rubik's Cube." She frowned slightly. "I wonder if there's a way in."

The Doctor reached into his breast coat pocket and produced what looked like a blue and silver penlight. It made a whirring sound as he waved it as the pillar.

"Why are you still here?" he asked. "I'd have thought you'd be out the front door by now."

"I picked up the song here; I'm curious. Besides, I don't want to spend the rest of my life with it replaying in my head. I need to find the bard and have him/her/it get it out of my head."

"There's something there," the Doctor mused as he held the penlight to his ear and twisted something on it. "But I can't quite pin-point it."

Kathryn opened her mouth to say something when the squeak of wheels interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh joy," she muttered under her breath. "Just what I didn't order." She spotted a nearby closet door and tried the handle.

"Locked. Of course."

Feeling the Doctor watching her—and irked that she minded—Kathryn reached into her bag and pulled out a small lock-pick, trying it on the door as the squeaking wheels got closer.

She heard the Doctor come up behind her and the penlight whir again. The lock clicked open and he quickly pulled the closet door open and pushed her in, following behind her. Kathryn stared at him as he looked surreptitiously out the small window in the closet door.

"You're trying not to get caught either."

"No, people just act in more interesting ways if they think no ones' watching," the Doctor said. He glanced at her. "Now be quiet or they'll hear you."

Kathryn made a face at him before also watching out the window.

A nurse pushing a cart full of empty IV bags and metal canisters—probably also empty—stopped by the pillar in the floor. She checked both ways before producing a card and waving it in front of the clean white surface. A pale blue keypad came up, gleaming through the white on top of it.

"Ah, that's why I didn't see it," the Doctor mused. "Magnetic, not electronic. Very good."

"Be quiet or she'll hear you," Kathryn whispered to him. He spared a second to give her a look before returning to the scene.

The nurse finished entering her code and a panel slid up on the pillar, revealing an elevator. The nurse pushed the cart inside, pressed another button, and the panel closed as she descended.

The Doctor waited a few seconds before opening the closet door, rummaging through his pockets as he stood in front of the pillar. "I've got a magnet in here someplace…"

Kathryn rolled her eyes and opened her messenger bag, pulling out a horseshoe magnet. She pointed it at the white pillar and the keypad popped up. The Doctor turned around, looking a bit put out.

"Well that was rude."

"I'm American; it's what we do. If I had to give a source, I'd blame the coffee." Kathryn leaned past the Doctor and pushed in the code she'd seen the nurse use. The panel slid open and she stepped in, turning to look at the Doctor.

"You coming?"

"I thought you didn't like me," he said, joining her.

"I don't," Kathryn told him honestly. "But you'll probably sound the alarm if I leave you here."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?"

"Something like that." Kathryn jerked her head at the panel. "Push the button."

"Overview Balcony or Ground Work?"

"Which one's the most worn?"

"Ground Work."

"Then use the other one."

The Doctor complied and the panel to the hallway slid shut and the elevator started to descend. It was uncomfortably quiet for a moment.

"What'd you pack in the bag?" the Doctor asked. Kathryn shrugged.

"This and that. A set of extra clothes, med kit, sewing kit, and something I think you people use for money called a credit stick, but I think it looks like a candy bar. A few other bits and bobs." She sighed and clicked her teeth together.

"So—o. Time Lord. What is that, exactly?"

It was the Doctor's turn to look smug. "What it sounds like. I'm a Lord of Time. Caretaker, I guess you could say."

"You said you were the last one. Sounds like a big job for one person."

"One way to look at it, yeah. Still, I get to travel about, see things, meet people."

"Ooo, I'm even a people now!" Kathryn exclaimed with a note of sarcasm. "I'm really climbing."

"I didn't say you were one," the Doctor snipped back. "I just said I meet them."

"I'll bet you pick up people along the way."

"Sometimes," the Doctor answered honestly. Kathryn smiled mischievously.

"Are they all young and attractive?"

"Hang on!"

"What's the age range, nineteen to mid-twenties?"

"You're going a bit far."

"Even younger? My word, you need help. Tell me, are you much into the 'Frisco philosophy?"

"You're sick."

"It's a hospital; what do you expect?"

The Doctor gave her a look, but it wasn't entirely reproachful. He frowned slightly. "You need to work on your diplomacy. You could get killed if you use that sort of tone on some people."

"You say that as if it were a bad thing," Kathryn said quietly. The Doctor's look turned contemplative, but only for a moment.

Kathryn smiled thoughtfully. "I wonder…"

"Wonder what?" the Doctor said, not really needing to. He recognized that look.

"What'll be on the other side of the door."

The elevator gave a ding to signal the end of the ride and the panel slid open again. Kathryn stepped out grandly and immediately fell to her knees.

"Kathryn?" the Doctor questioned, worry creeping into his voice despite himself. "What is it?"

She sniffed hard and struggled up, stumbling a bit as she pushed him away. Her eyes were wide open and she had a nose bleed. "Nothing. I'll live. Just didn't expect…"

Her words trailed off as she stared at the view from the dark stone balcony. The Doctor looked with her, understanding why it was so distracting.

As far as the eye could see, trees stretched out in an orchard. They resembled walnut trees in winter; cold, dead, leafless. Snow was gently falling, but the room wasn't chilly. Nurses walked through the trees, stopping every so often to gather the snow into a container, prune a branch, or tap a tree to gather sap.

"What are they doing down here?" Kathryn asked. "Is it a medicinal base, do you think? The sap, I mean."

"I don't know," the Doctor said truthfully. He turned to a nearby monitor and turned his penlight thing on it, again making that whirring sound. Kathryn looked over his shoulder as images flashed by.

"What is that thing?"

"A sonic screwdriver," he answered, not looking at her.

"You're doing all that with sound?"

"I'm just that good," he said. A minute later he made a noise of irritation. "There's nothing here about it. No records, not even a strange, unlabeled room in the blueprints."

"Huh," Kathryn said. "I guess movies aren't all true. Usually writers put in a mistake. I guess the real world is more careful. Of course, that means that whatever they're doing down here is highly illegal."

She returned to the view. "Song's coming from down there at any rate," Kathryn said, only half to the Doctor. "Something to do with the trees maybe? Are they the last remnants of a planet or something?" She shook her head, grimacing again. "No, it's more than that. Has to be."

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked, coming to stand next to her.

"I don't understand the words, but…but the singers sound as though they're in pain. Not just a physical pain, or a mental pain, but…it's like they're almost dead, but they can't finish dying. Something's forcing them to live and they wish they could either finish dying—or finish living."

"You certainly don't sound like you're fifteen."

Kathryn glanced at him. "I never did sound my age. Never could act it either. No, that's a lie; sometimes I did." She smiled, biting her lip. "Nah. I was never really a 'teen.' I made an immediate jump from child to adult. You'd either find me in the window seat reading a really big book, or chasing after the ice cream man on my bike. One of everything." Kathryn's smile faded. "I wonder if she's really like that without me." She clicked her teeth together, thinking. "I wonder what I'm like without her."

"The Rahki are pretty strict about keeping the character the same when they make the switch," the Doctor told her. "You'd be just about the same."

Kathryn sighed. "Oh, I hope not," she said under her breath, obviously not meaning the Doctor to hear.

The Doctor looked at her but didn't ask what she meant. He sighed. "Well there isn't much chance of going down until the shift change, which will probably be in…"

Kathryn flipped her wrist over and checked her watch. "It's nine now…twenty to o' six hundred…they'd want to leave before the shift change in the regular hospital…about eight hours," she announced. The Doctor seemed puzzled.

"How do you figure that?"

She shrugged. "Night shift. My pare—the people I lived with worked at a hospital. You get a feel for the shifts."

Kathryn sighed and sat down against the far wall. "Eight hours stuck with you, and I forgot to replicate a book. This isn't going to be pleasant."

"Could be worse," the Doctor said, sitting across from her with his back to the view. Kathryn gave him a look.

"How?"

"You could be stuck with one of your classmates."

Kathryn laughed through her nose. "Yeah. Yeah, that's true."

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn't long before the total silence got to both the Doctor and Kathryn.

"So, Kathryn," the Doctor said. "What did you mean earlier, in your verbal analysis? The whole guilt and self-pity thing."

"Oh, never pay much attention to those," she said, dismissing it with a wave. "I never mean to say those out loud. You weren't supposed to hear it."

"But you did say it," the Doctor prodded. Kathryn met his stare almost fearlessly.

"You said you were the last of your race. Right there, you've got survivor's guilt. A race doesn't go extinct unless there's a war or genocide, usually both. You managed to get away. The way you spoke about being the only one to know the universal language and your age make you sound and act tired and sad, which makes me think you blame yourself for the loss of your species. Because of this, you want to save people and make up for the travesty. However, you also said you were a Caretaker of Time, and brought up the fact you were the only one left without any prodding from me. That tells me you pity yourself a bit, and sort of expect others to do the same; burdens and age and last man standing and all that."

The Doctor sat back and looked at Kathryn for a few seconds. "You're a rather strange child."

"I'm really moving up your list," Kathryn said glibly. "Next I'll be a person."

"Do you see yourself as a person?"

Kathryn raised her eyebrows. "Yah, I do. I've got independent thought, memories. I'm capable of intelligent speech, higher motor skills. I form my own opinions. I'm a person." She blinked and looked away. "So are Jahra usually made to suck the life out of others?"

"Not as far as I know."

"Joy. I'm the start of a new product line. Just peachy." Kathryn sighed and rubbed at her forehead.

"Something wrong?"

"The song's giving me a headache," Kathryn said. "And I'm usually asleep right about now."

"You can take a nap if you want," the Doctor said. "We're going to be here for a while."

"No, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't trust you Fly-boy," Kathryn said bluntly. "I can't sleep in front of people I don't trust."

"Why don't you trust me?"

"Have you given me a reason to?" she challenged.

The Doctor tilted his head back and looked at her for a moment before reaching into the breast pocket of his coat and pulling something out. He held them towards Kathryn.

"I think these are yours."

She looked at the pictures, uncertain, before taking them from him. She looked at them before putting them into her bag.

"Thanks." Kathryn didn't look at him for a moment, but when she did she had a knowing look in her eye. "Find out what you wanted to know about me?"

"Not much. Typical American family; father, mother, older brother. Three Hispanic friends about your age."

"Yep." Her expression turned disapproving. "You could have asked."

"Would you have answered?"

"Not my family; I don't have a right to talk about them."

"Then why keep the photographs?"

Kathryn was quiet. "I take it that I'm not a normal Jahra, not knowing about the 'real me,'" she said suddenly.

"No, you're not."

Kathryn thought for a few beats. "And the whole drain-life-from-others thing. It's deadly to everyone, right? I touch someone without gloves and they die."

"As far as I can tell."

"Then why, when I stopped you from taking my rock," Kathryn asked slowly, "did nothing happen to you?"

"I don't know."

"You're just as lost as I am."

"Pretty much, yeah."

Kathryn gave a half-smile. "Nice to know even you don't know everything Fly-boy."

"I do have a name," the Doctor said.

"Doctor is a title, not a name."

"It's both in my case."

"You're a very confusing person."

"So are you."

"Except that I like me."

"This is true."

Silence again. Kathryn shifted and the Doctor noticed something.

"You cut your hair."

"Yep."

"Why?"

Kathryn shrugged. "Long hair is a hassle. Easier to deal with short hair, particularly when I'm not sure what happens after this."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "You don't know where you're going once you break out?"

"I looked up a star map," Kathryn defended herself. "I was particularly taken by a little planet near here, name of Zom."

"Zom?" the Doctor questioned, eyes widening. "You're going to Zom?"

"If I can find a way, yeah." Kathryn looked sideways at him. "Why, what's wrong with it?"

"Emotions have been outlawed there," the Doctor told her. Kathryn blinked at him and then gave a short laugh.

"Oh, those poor people. Still, maybe I need a new destination. I'd be thrown in prison the second I stepped off the ship." Kathryn rubbed her forehead again, and then smiled broadly.

"You know, it's finally hit me." She looked at the Doctor. "I'm on an alien planet. I've traveled thousands of years forward in time, and I'm on an alien planet right now."

The Doctor smiled in response. "Yes you are Kathryn Moore." He frowned curiously. "Why choose that name?"

"I don't know anyone named Kathryn Moore."

"You're taking all of this rather well."

"Easier to function if you aren't crying," she said carelessly. "Besides, the one good thing from this horrid song is that it crowds out almost everything else."

The Doctor's expression sobered. "I still need to hear it."

"I am not letting you into my head. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor, because you don't want to hear it."

"I need to hear the whole message."

"Then listen for it!" Kathryn snapped. "It's everywhere anyway."

"I can't hear it Kathryn; I'm on the wrong wavelength or something."

"And what am I supposed to do about that?" she asked sharply. "What does the singer expect me to do? I didn't ask for any of this. I finally got done with high school; I was one week—_one week_—away from having a Bachelor's in Evolutionary Linguistics, had plans to get my Masters, and was just going to live my life." She pressed her hands against the bridge of her nose, obviously controlling her sudden outburst.

"Sorry," Kathryn apologized. "Didn't mean to snap. But right now, all I've got is my brain, and my memories. It might have been someone else's life, but I did live and feel all fifteen years, ten days of that life. I really don't need someone I haven't even known for twelve hours prodding around in there."

"You only just turned fifteen?"

"Yep." Her smile was cynical. "Breithlá Sona."

"Latin, French, and Gaelic. I'm impressed." The Doctor watched her again. "Why the obsession with languages?"

Kathryn grinned, staring up at the rock ceiling. Her voice turned almost reminiscent. "I love languages. I love learning different tongues. English is so…bland. Everyone else has such magnificent sounds to play with. Each one…it's like its own place, separate but part of the country itself. I could spend my life studying words." She looked at the Doctor, a strange new spark in her eyes. "Are there really five billion languages?

The Doctor smiled. "Yeah."

Kathryn shook her head in wonder. "And I thought Earth was noisy. That's…that's just brilliant." She looked at the Doctor with something finally nearing respect. "Traveling through time and space. Bet you see a lot that way."

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, yes."

The next hours passed quickly with stories of planets, peoples, and times.

* * *

Kathryn sat back and sighed at the end of another story. "You run so much in your life."

"Love the running," the Doctor said with a grin.

"Are you running from something or towards something?"

His smiled faded. "Both, I think," he said quietly. Kathryn nodded.

"I can understand that."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "I doubt it." He pointed at her. "Your nose is bleeding again."

"Lovely." Kathryn tilted her head back, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'll live."

The Doctor sighed, but knew better than to say anything about it. "Back in your room, you said you were seeing colors. How does that work?"

"Well, I've sort of started fitting stuff together since you said I absorb energy," Kathryn answered, nose still in the air. "I'm pretty sure that I'm seeing the stuff too."

"You see energy?"

"I think so. I know that blue is sound, because whenever someone talks, blue shafts of light come out of their mouths and scatter across the room. Green and red are light and heat, but there's so much of each I'm not sure who's who. And I think—think, because I'm not sure—that purple is mental energy." She brought her head back down and sniffed. "Of course, the reason I'm not sure is because you don't have a lot of it around your head."

"Why would I have mental energy around my head?"

"Because you are."

The Doctor blinked, then gave her a look. "That was uncalled for."

Kathryn smiled. "Has some truth to it. Although, it would make sense, in a way, if smarter people had more energy inside their heads rather than outside it. Can't use it when it's outside your head."

"Did you just pay me a compliment?"

"I said people. I didn't say you were one."

The Doctor smiled lightly at hearing his own words then furrowed his brow. "Kathryn, is there a lot of mental energy in here?"

She closed her eyes for a few seconds. "There's a lot of all energies in here, though most of it is hovering near the trees. Why?"

"That might be why you can hear it and I can't," he said, not needing to explain what 'it' was. "My race is telepathic, but if someone's broadcasting through the energy spectrum, I wouldn't pick it up."

"So whoever our miserable bard is, he's an energy being?"

"It's very likely."

Kathryn nodded. "Huh. I guess you are useful at times."

"That's the nicest thing I've heard you say Kathryn."

"Don't get used to it."

The Doctor smiled. "I'll be sure not to."

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	7. Chapter 7

"Finally, the shift change," Kathryn said, watching the migration of workers. "I'm more than ready to get down from here."

"Don't you like the view?" the Doctor asked teasingly. Kathryn's look was more serious.

"No. Looks too much like…Earth. Where I lived. Except it's too flat, and there's no sky." She huffed, her tone turning less somber. "And if it's snowing, it needs to be cold."

She dropped down behind the edge as someone started to look up. She gave the Doctor a questioning look.

"Does that sonic do-hicky of yours lock things?"

"Works on everything. Well, except wood."

"Why not wood?"

"It'd take too long to explain. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking," Kathryn said, "that if someone decides to stop by the Overview Balcony on their way up, we'll be found. Could you lock the door or something? They'll probably just think it's a blown fuse."

"And how do you expect us to get down afterwards?"

"We climb." She noticed the Doctor's look. "Or you fix whatever it is you break and take the elevator. Sheesh, you'd think rock-climbing was a crime."

"We'd be more likely to be seen climbing down a wall."

Kathryn shrugged. "I doubt it."

"Why?"

"My guess is that they don't have cameras pointed at this part of the room, or if they do, it's down near the elevators. If there were cameras for the Overview, we'd have been caught already."

The Doctor didn't say anything to her reasoning, but produced his sonic and 'locked' the elevator door.

"Thank you."

The Doctor seemed surprised. "What?"

"Oh shut up."

"You know, I don't think you dislike me as much as you pretend to," the Doctor told her.

"And I'm pretty sure you think better of me than you deign to reveal," Kathryn shot back.

"So we agree that we're both liars."

"At least we're honest about it."

They watched quietly as the workers slowly filtered out (up?) through the elevator. They took a longer look around the nearby area.

"We have guards there, there, and there," the Doctor said, pointing. "And I think I see some kind of…control center about half a mile out, against the left wall."

"Yeah, I see it too," Kathryn said, agreeing. The Doctor gave her a look.

"What is it?"

"I didn't say anything."

"I know, but something shifted."

"Look at you! Known me for twelve hours and already reading my moods. Talk about telepathic." She glared at him. "I hope you aren't reading my mind without permission."

"I am not! You're just…standing differently or something."

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Yeah, the song changed. Well, more like it tweaked when the last workers left. Now it's more like it's…pulling in. Magnetizing."

She straightened. "Not going to learn anything up here." Flipping herself over the railing, Kathryn started climbing down. The Doctor hissed at her.

"You're going to be seen!"

"No I'm not. Those guards are formalities. I won't be halfway down the wall before they start listening to baseball on whatever you have now instead of a radio, or reading a book, or yacking about last night's football game. They'll never look up. Besides, it's only a few hundred feet."

"I'm still using the elevator."

"You do that."

The Doctor stared after Kathryn for another second, marveling at her speed before turning away, shaking his head. Teenagers. He certainly hadn't been like that.

_No, you're like that now_ his brain told him. He smiled at the thought before fixing the elevator door and stepping in, pressing the button for Ground Work. It irked him that Kathryn wouldn't just let him in on the song, but understood her stand on the idea. It had always made him uneasy whenever someone started reading his mind.

The elevator opened silently and he stepped out cautiously, hoping no one was looking his way as he slipped behind a nearby tree. The lack of cold was even more glaring now that he was in the snow. The Doctor bent down to examine it.

"Don't touch that."

He started, sighing in exasperation when he saw it was only Kathryn.

"How'd you get down here so fast?"

"I'm just that good. Don't touch the snow. Something's…off with it."

"What do you mean?"

"It's black."

The Doctor raised both eyebrows. "The snow is black. Are you seeing things in negative?"

"No, Fly-boy, I mean that it's got no energy near it. At all. Nothing. It doesn't exist when I try to look at it."

Now the Doctor seemed surprised. "It should be reflecting light and holding heat."

"Well it isn't. So don't touch it. I tried and it hurt. On the other hand, the trees are a weird off-white." Kathryn glanced down the rows towards the control center.

"I wonder if the snow is what's singing to you," the Doctor mused. Kathryn gave him a look.

"How would that work?"

He stood. "Just because it's not as big as you are doesn't mean that it's not a form of life. Broaden your horizons, accept new ideas. Isn't that what America's about?"

Kathryn gave him a look. "I will make you eat your words, Fly-boy."

The Doctor smiled at the challenge. "I look forward to it."

Kathryn hid her smile, looking back at the control center. "So, want to find out what this place is?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Moving quietly down the columns, the Doctor had a sort of chance to observe Kathryn. She seemed to be paying little attention to her surroundings, walking as though she had every right to be there. Her eyes never seemed to really rest anywhere, but it was more of a tourist's look than that of an anxious person. It seemed odd to him that someone so worried about being seen and caught would act in such apparent carelessness.

When they were in line with the control center Kathryn stopped. The Doctor continued on for a few steps before really noticing that she wasn't continuing. He turned back to see her studying a tree.

"What?"

"I was just wondering what sort of tree this is," Kathryn said. "From a distance it looked like the basic orchard brand walnut cross, but now I'm not so sure."

"Why not?"

"The trees are fake."

"Come again?"

"I lived on a walnut orchard," Kathryn explained. "English walnuts are the kind everyone eats, but the roots are horrid, so generally you plant a black walnut, then give it a chance to grow before cutting it down and grafting the top half of an English walnut to it. Bottom half of the trunk is black, top half is gray, but the whole thing is cracked, like most tree bark. Problem is that this is smooth. I mean, completely smooth, like…like it was carved from glass or something. And something's…swirling under the surface." Reaching out, Kathryn touched the bark.

She jerked her hand back, gasping. Her hand looked like it had third degree burns, and her nose was starting to bleed again. However, Kathryn didn't seem to notice either of those things. Her hands were pressed against her forehead and she couldn't stand straight.

"Kathryn?" the Doctor asked, concerned. He grabbed her shoulders trying to help steady her. "What's wrong?"

"My head," she gasped out. "I can't—It's the song. It's louder. I can't think." Tears started to leak from her eyes, but they seemed to be more blood than tears.

"Kathryn, where's the song coming from?" When she didn't answer he shook her lightly. "Kathryn, focus! Can you tell who's singing?"

"The trees. They're…they're dying. They're so old and now they're dying!" She stared at the Doctor in fear and pain. "We have to help them Doctor. They can't go on. The song…it's everywhere."

"Kathryn, listen to me. I can help you, but I have to listen in. I can make the song go away, but I have to go inside your head."

Kathryn shook her head. "No. No, it won't work. They're screaming. It hurts." She pulled away as he reached up anyways. "No! I don't want to think about it. Leave me alone."

"Kathryn. Kathryn, look at me!" The Doctor forced Kathryn to meet his gaze. "I need you to trust me."

She stared at him a second longer before nodding. The Doctor set his fingers on her temples and closed his eyes.

He almost let go when he stepped into her mind. The song wasn't merely sad; it was the definition of agony, of pain. It was the song a nation enslaved might sing as they remembered not only freedom, but also the millions slaughtered during the capture. It was a song of physical, mental, and emotional torture.

The Doctor forced his mind to work around the song. "Kathryn, think of a large room. An empty room."

"There is no empty. The song fills it."

"Good. Now leave the room, but leave the song in the room."

"I can't!"

"Yes you can. You know where I am; follow me."

The Doctor felt Kathryn latch onto him, clinging as though she had nothing else. Slowly the song decreased in volume; not in strength or purpose, just in the noise level.

When the Doctor felt Kathryn let go of him, he left her mind and let go of her head. She sat back on her heels, breathing deeply.

"Thank you."

"Glad to help."

"Try it again and I'll feed you your ears."

"Good to know you're feeling better."

Kathryn smiled. "Yeah. What about you?"

"A little…stronger than I usually come across, but I see what you meant now."

"Yeah." Kathryn looked down at her hand, frowning. "How fast am I supposed to heal?" she asked in amazement.

The Doctor examined her hand. The burn had been severe, but her hand looked completely undamaged.

"Eh, about that speed, considering. I'm surprised the tree damaged you at all."

"Why?"

He looked at her as though it were obvious. "If the trees are the things sending you the message, they should be made of energy, or at least full of it. The two of you should get along marvelously, not be biting each other."

"Don't have to sound so condescending, it was just a question."

"I wasn't being condescending."

"Yes you were."

"Was not!"

Kathryn held up her hand. "Not so loud, nut-job. You want someone to hear you?" She glanced down the row to the control center. "Although, that is a good question. How do we get rid of them?"

"Depends," the Doctor said. "How good are you at distractions?"

Kathryn shrugged, hiding a smiling. "Fair to middling."

"Good. Now, you—"

Kathryn never found out what the plan was, because just then the Doctor was cut off by the sound of the intercom.

"All security forces report to the main hospital. Seal off all entrances, the Jahra child has escaped. Repeat, the Jahra child has escaped. Shoot on sight, she is extremely dangerous."

Kathryn watched the guards hurry to the elevator before turning to the Doctor. "Told you I'm good at distractions. Let's take a look."

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	8. Chapter 8

The Doctor and Kathryn were soon standing behind a large control panel. Dials, flip switches, dimmer switches, screens, keyboards, lights, and meters covered every inch of the surface. The Doctor sat down at one of the screens, pulling out his sonic as Kathryn started reading labels out loud.

"Irrigation, Pipe Flow, Intake, Snow Levels, Absorbent Ratio, Tree Survival."

"Sounds like an automated orchard," the Doctor commented distractedly, still looking for what the place was supposed to produce.

"No such thing."

The Doctor looked up at her like she'd lost a screw. "I think the control panel covers the automated part, Kathryn."

"It's not automated," Kathryn protested. "Orchards aren't automated. The watering system can be pipe lines and you can hire a small army to harvest whatever you're growing, but you can't run an orchard with robots and sensors. I don't know who authorized this place, but they don't care about the trees, which is why they're screaming. Look," she said, pointing. "Tree Survival. If you care about the fruit or nuts a tree produces, you want it healthy, not surviving. Whatever they grow here, it's not from the trees."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember? When we were up on the Overview, they weren't doing anything to the trees. They were collecting the snow. Yeah, they pulled the sap a few times, but it was the snow that they cared about. I don't know what they're hoping to get out of frozen water—"

"Energy," the Doctor said, his face saying that everything had finally fallen into place. He was suddenly filled with a strange, underlying flame that Kathryn found oddly appealing, as if his adrenaline rushes were catching. He stood, talking with his hands.

"The trees are energy beings; though how they were convinced to get into this form or come down here I have no idea. But the snow isn't really snow; it's an absorbent for the energy, like…like a sponge for water. This isn't an orchard; it's an energy farm, a cure all for anyone who comes."

"I was following you up until you said 'cure all."

"It's like your hand, Kathryn, when the tree burned it. You store energy and power, which is what the body uses to do everything from breathing to walking to healing a wound. The more you have, the faster you heal." The Doctor pointed at her. "That also explains why the tree attacked you."

"The snow was bad enough before a giant sponge came to consume its life, so it gave me a quick zap."

The Doctor grinned. "Knew there was hope for you."

Kathryn smiled. "I surprise people sometimes." She plunked down in the chair the Doctor had recently vacated, starting to click her way through files. "Next order of business: free the trees."

"You sound like a hippie tree-hugger," the Doctor said, leaning over her to see what she was doing. Her smiled saddened a touch.

"My fam—the people I lived with called me a hippie sometimes." Kathryn shot the Doctor a look. "But there is no way I'm hugging those trees." She looked back at the screen. A few seconds later she brought up what looked like a blueprint for a piping system.

"Lovely!" she exclaimed. "Okay…main junctures here, here and here," she said, pointing. "We break 'em open, let the tree food—probably energy—come out to flood the place, and shazam! Happier tune."

"What about the snow?" the Doctor asked, almost as though he were reminding Kathryn. "What's going to stop it from taking in everything?"

"Good point. Are any of these dials thermostats?"

The Doctor reached over her and pressed a button right in front of her. "A good start would probably be to turn off the snow."

Kathryn gave him a mock glare. "You're being condescending again."

"Am not!"

"Are to."

"Stand away from that panel!" a sharp female voice called out. Kathryn and the Doctor looked up to see a tall woman with several armed security guards behind her. Kathryn glanced at the Doctor, a little surprised at how calm he looked.

"Matron Shravin."

"Doctor. I should have known you'd be mixed up in an escape. Please, both of you step out from behind there."

The Doctor nodded at Kathryn and they did as they were told. Kathryn gave the Matron a look.

"You don't exactly seem shocked that we're here."

The Matron looked coolly at Kathryn. "Once the Doctor explained to us what you were, Jahra child—"

"And shut it right there," Kathryn said suddenly, her voice taut. "Back up and start again. I am not Jahra. I don't care what the Rahki call the poor souls they tamper with, but I am not one of them. My name is Kathryn."

The Matron blinked. "Once the Doctor explained to us what you were, Rahki creation—"

"You got a hearing problem?" Kathryn snapped, stepping forward. The Doctor touched her shoulder. She looked back at him and stepped back. The Doctor nodded at the Matron to continue.

"Once I knew that you absorbed energy, I guessed that you would find your way down here. As the Doctor seemed beyond curious with you, I surmised he'd be down here as well." The Matron folded her hands into her large sleeves. "However, now that you are here, I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave, Doctor. You are far too noble about the minorities you come across to appreciate what we do here."

"And Kathryn gets to walk out?"

"Into the hands of the Rahki. They will arrive in fifteen minutes for her."

Kathryn raised a hand. "First off, screw the Rahki, I'm not going anywhere with them. And second, back up a step. You think you're doing something marvelous down here? You've…you've enslaved a race!"

The Matron's look turned hard. "We took advantage of what came to us. The first tree fell from space ten years back. We treated it like a tree ought to be; water, light, heat. It began to branch out, more and more trees coming up from the one root system. Soon we discovered it fed off of energy; light, sound, heat, and mental waves. It wasn't long before I found that the sap from the trees—"

"Their blood you mean," the Doctor said tersely. The Matron ignored him.

"The tree sap is a form of condensed energy, and when used as a base in our medicines, we can cure anyone. We stopped a planet wide epidemic in its tracks. It wasn't hard to create an absorbent to collect the energy from the trees, the snow like substance everywhere."

"And I assume you asked the tree before you started torturing her?" Kathryn asked sarcastically. The Matron's expression was open.

"It came to us. We just took advantage. One race suffers in exchange for the thousands that come through each year. We've cured millions that would have died had we not used the energy."

"You stuck up little—!"

"Kathryn."

"Don't even."

The Matron sighed. "As much as I've enjoyed this, I have a hospital to tend to and an emissary to meet." She turned and began to leave. "Kill him, incapacitate her. The Rahki need her alive."

The three guards lifted their weapons. The Doctor and Kathryn started backing up.

"Kathryn, this is the part of the discussion where we leave."

"Rapidly?"

"Very."

The two of them turned around and ran, moving into the orchard. The guards came after them, firing. Kathryn saw what looked like globs of electrified water flying past her. One grazed her neck, burning it pleasantly.

The Doctor made a sharp turn behind a particularly large tree, grabbing Kathryn and pulling her in front of him.

"I'm not going with them, Fly-boy. I'd rather take a bullet for you then do that."

He gave her a look, the feeling in the statement strange. "And I'd rather not die," he said, pulling out his sonic. "Those are basic energy weapons, early models. The right setting should knock them out." He popped out from behind the tree, the sonic whining. He pulled back a moment later when one of the globs went flying over his head. Kathryn snapped her head around to see it hit a different tree. The smooth bark rippled slightly.

"Too high, need to—"

"Wait a second. Don't even breathe," Kathryn said, cutting him off. She stared at nothing, using her hands to draw in the air as though she were moving pages and tracing paths. "I know how to fix this," she said suddenly, diving into her bag and pulling out a revolver.

"Kathryn," the Doctor said firmly, putting his hand on the gun. "We are not—"

"Doctor." Kathryn locked eyes with him. "Trust me."

He stared back at her for a moment, dozens of thoughts and worries running through his head. "Alright."

Kathryn cocked the gun, closed her eyes, took a breath, and then slid out from behind the tree. The Doctor heard four shots fired before Kathryn moved back.

"What did you do?"

"I fixed it."

There were several gasps, then sounds of running. The Doctor looked around the large tree to see the three guards running away. That wasn't all he saw.

In a perfect ring nearby, there were four holes in the snow. From them trickled green, red, purple, and blue light. It slithered along the ground and started twining itself around the tree trunks. The Doctor looked back at Kathryn to see that she'd gone. Looking up again, he could just see her through the trees back at the control panel. Grabbing hold of a large switch, she pulled on it hard. It moved slowly, like it was rusted, but she brought it down with a clang. The colored light became a flood, rushing out and attaching itself to trees.

The colors flowed into the trees, spreading like a wave. Leaves started to grow from the bare branches and the energy swirled through them.

The Doctor looked back to where Kathryn was. He could see her staring at the sight, her features lit up. The song must have changed drastically to illicit such an expression from her. He noted absently that she looked better when she smiled.

Kathryn seemed to have forgotten that the Doctor existed as she slowly spun, trying to see everything at once.

The Doctor gave a start as one of the nearby trees gave a shudder before dissolving into a humanoid shape. One near Kathryn did the same thing, causing her to inhale suddenly and stare, the childlike wonder vanishing from her face to be replaced with a more fearful one.

More trees followed suit, the rate increasing until soon all but the largest tree had transformed into the shape of a person. The colors remained, still swirling and shifting, but the feminine and masculine outlines remained. Kathryn seemed to grow increasingly agitated, and started trying to find the Doctor as the beautiful creatures milled around her.

The Doctor, who was used to seeing anything, wasn't as bothered by the change as she seemed to be. He moved through the crowd of energy people to get to Kathryn. She seemed relieved when he showed up.

"Doctor, what's going on?"

"My guess would be they're either returning to the shape they usually hold, or trying to find a look that better fits the planet." He smiled down at her, taking her hand and squeezing reassuringly. "It'll be alright."

Kathryn only looked at him for a moment more before returning her gaze to the people. The Doctor did the same, but there was still a question left.

"How did you know that would work? Shooting the pipes."

"I didn't, not really," Kathryn admitted. "I noticed that the guns didn't do anything to the trees. If anything, the spot the energy bullet glob thing hit looked…better. Healthier. I also knew that the irrigation pipes had to be carrying a constant feed of energy to the trees; otherwise, the false snow would have taken everything they had left. The map we found told us where the major junctions were. I just had to hope that enough of a burst would help the trees enough to worry the guards. I mean, if I was tortured constantly, and my blood sucked out on a minute by minute basis, and suddenly I felt better, I'd probably be out for revenge." She smiled slightly. "At least, that would be the thought of whoever had me tied to the table. Or ground, in this case."

Kathryn watched one of the energy people float past her. "You know, they look exactly the way I pictured dryads to look."

The crowd seemed to suddenly become still, parting to give Kathryn and the Doctor a view of the large tree, which was in the middle of turning into its humanoid shape. She was taller than the others, and her hair seemed to move in an invisible breeze. Her outline also seemed better defined, as though she were older and more practiced than the others. She moved down the open row of her people, her feet not quite touching the ground.

Kathryn clenched the Doctor's hand tightly. He squeezed back, mentally preparing to meet this new woman.

She stopped in front of them. Her voice was like a flame in water, warm and comforting, deadly and mysterious.

"I am Karya. I speak for the E'akru. Identify yourself, child."

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	9. Chapter 9

"My name is Kathryn Moore."

"I did not ask for your name," Karya said. "I asked you to identify yourself."

Kathryn blinked, trying to come up with an answer. "I…have no identity yet, Karya," she began hesitantly. "My past belongs to another person, and I have only been whoever I now am for a day. I cannot identify myself." She seemed unsure if she should ask her question. "What is your identity?"

"We are the E'akru. We are one mind, one body, yet we are separate, each with their own thoughts, hidden from the others, but with no secrets in our race. Like our previous form, we are all one, connected by the same root, and we are each our own."

Karya smiled slightly. "Yes Kathryn, that is where my name comes from. That is why we chose this shape and I my name; it is the one you expected and wished for."

Kathryn's eyes widened slightly, and then her eyelids lowered in suspicion. "Why are you in my mind?"

"Because you speak…it is not the same dialect, but the same…language, that we do. You hear our song, while your new friend the Doctor cannot." Karya turned to the Doctor. "Yes Time Lord, we know who you are. We knew your race when it was still great."

"How did you get in this fix?" the Doctor asked curiously. Kathryn seemed a bit shocked that he spoke so casually. Karya didn't seem to notice, or maybe she didn't care.

"A time ago, the E'akru traveled through space, exploring and existing, observing and helping when we could. We found a higher race that understood what we were and welcomed us. However, they deceived us and took advantage of us, running experiments and stealing our life. They had the decency to do it quickly, unlike those here at the hospital. I was the youngest, and my people managed to send me away, though I was extremely weak and could barely survive, much less guide myself. I fell through the stars until I came here. I was young, naïve, and grief stricken, and believed that the nurses would help me. They did at first, and I tried to repay the favor while I worked on re-growing my race. Once there were many of us, they used the false snow. We have waited for a great while, singing in hopes someone would come who could hear us."

Karya looked back to Kathryn. "I apologize for the pain our song caused you, my child. As you can only take in energy, there was nothing you could do to balance the song." She bent down near Kathryn, looking into her face as though reading something there. "Remember the song we sing now, Kathryn. You will need it as time passes. You have a strange future ahead of you, and I fear it will end painfully. There is a door in your head, pulsing with knowledge you should have but do not. The seal is not perfect, and this will make your life very confusing, but very, very wonderful."

Karya stood up again, her voice sharpening. "Doctor, you and Kathryn must go now. The Rahki are landing on the roof as we speak, and I would not have our rescuers taken by them."

"Right." The Doctor looked down at Kathryn, grinning. "Ready to run?"

She grinned back. "Definitely."

They took off through the path the E'akru made for them, the Doctor using his sonic on the elevator to speed it up. Kathryn seemed pensive under her adrenaline.

"What is it?"

"Karya was young when she lost everything," Kathryn mused.

The Doctor didn't say anything in response. Kathryn straightened and looked up at him.

"I need a lift," she said bluntly. "Since I saved our lives and all back there, could you drop me off?"

The Doctor smiled. "No problem."

The elevator opened and they jumped out into the hall just in time to see a large group of people turn towards them, the Matron leading the charge. Most of the humanoids were curiously colorless, but the one right next to Matron Shravin was particularly washed out. Kathryn felt a strange chill run through her as she met his pale blue eyes.

"Run!"

The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her along beside him as they ran down the hall, energy guns firing behind them. As they rounded the corner Kathryn pulled back, spinning around and using her revolver to shoot out a light above the pursuers heads. They gained a few seconds as sparks rained down on the Rahki and the Matron.

"I thought you were going to shoot one of them for a moment," the Doctor said as they kept running.

"I've killed five people in my life, Doctor," Kathryn said tersely, "and that is six too many."

He shoot a look at her, obviously confused at the number but not about to ask.

Their running took them up several flights of stairs until they burst out onto the roof, which served as a landing platform for most of the ships that would come. Kathryn stared at the ship as the Doctor soniced the door, buying them some more time.

"Oh! It's pretty," she said, looking up at it. "Reminds me of the Vulcan ships from Star Trek, what with the ring around it and all. How fast does it go?"

"Wrong one Kathryn!" the Doctor called, dashing to a small blue box near the edge of the roof. Kathryn followed him, obviously confused.

"What, is it cloaked?" She gave him a look. "Don't tell me it's the…what is a Police Public Call Box anyway?"

"Later, Kathryn, just get in," the Doctor ordered as he unlocked the door and slipped inside.

"That can't be the ship! Way too small! And she's wood!" Kathryn protested.

"It's bigger on the inside, just get in!"

Kathryn had opened her mouth to argue when the door to the roof blew open, the pale Rahki spilling out. They instantly took aim. The colorless one stared at Kathryn, observing her quietly. She stared back, nearly frozen for some reason. It wasn't fear. It was almost…want.

When she realized that she lifted her revolver, the thought of wanting to return terrifying and revolting her simultaneously. The colorless one continued to watch her, even as she aimed at him.

Seeing one of their own threatened, one of the Rahki soldiers started to pull the trigger. Kathryn watched silently as the colorless one surreptitiously bumped him, causing him to just miss.

This had taken all of two seconds to play out. As the man missed the shot, the Doctor leaned out, latched onto Kathryn's arm, and pulled her into his ship.

She fell backwards, twisting as she did so in order to land on her knees and hands. She looked up to see the Doctor dash up a ramp to a center console.

Kathryn stared, lost for words as she slowly sat back on her heels. A marvelous sound filled the air, as though the ship were breathing. Everything was turquoise and gold, like sand and water and coral. She reverently stood and walked slowly around, looking at everything but not touching anything, oblivious to the smug look on the Doctor's face.

Watching the moving tubes in the middle of the console, Kathryn breathed, "She's beautiful."

The smugness faded from the Doctor's expression, but the smile remained. "Yeah, she is, isn't she? The TARDIS is an old girl, but she's still a looker." He leaned on the console, looking at Kathryn. "So, where do you want to go?"

Kathryn thought, but only for a moment. "May 15th, 2011, 8:30 AM. Main Street, Kelseyville, Lake County, California."

The Doctor's face hardened. "Kathryn, you can't." He walked towards her, his words unrelenting. "You can't go back to them, you can't. I'm sorry, but the way you are right now could start a riot. People would start questioning if anyone was real, if they themselves were real. You might even create a paradox if she somehow survived and you met her. You can't go back Kathryn."

Kathryn held up her hand to stop the flow, not meeting his gaze. "I know Doctor. I just…" She looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at him. "I just need to know if she lived. Please."

The Doctor looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Alright. 8:30 you said?"

"Yeah."

* * *

_Vworp, vworp, vworp._

Kathryn stepped from the TARDIS onto the sidewalk. She looked around calmly before crossing the street and vanishing inside a small coffee shop by the name of Studebakers. The Doctor waited by the TARDIS for her, examining the area quietly.

The street was full of small businesses, the picture of a small town. A nearby newspaper in a rack told him it was Sunday, which explained why it was so quiet. One of the side headlines said that a story on a school shooting was on a different page, but the Doctor had no money to find out about it.

Kathryn reappeared with a small brown bag in her hand and a disposable coffee cup in the other. She walked down the sidewalk without looking over at him. He silently followed her, staying on his side of Main Street. Obviously she didn't really want him there, but his curiosity was too much. That was part of the reason, anyway.

The Doctor followed Kathryn up to the Kelseyville Public High School. One car was parked there. She looked at it for a moment before turning towards him.

"You might as well come," she said softly.

"It's alright," the Doctor said. "Wouldn't want to intrude."

Kathryn smiled slightly. "No, you'd just hang around the corner listening in, and then you'd be in a mess trying to explain it all to her."

"To who?"

Her smile widened. "The janitor."

The Doctor followed Kathryn around the back of the school where a small, wiry woman in her mid-fifties was scrubbing graffiti off the wall. She looked up sharply as they rounded the corner.

"What do you want?" the woman asked sharply.

Kathryn set down the bag and coffee cup. "Just wanted to talk Ms. Healy. And to help for a bit, if you can use us."

Ms. Healy's expression softened just a tad, and she seemed a bit puzzled. She nodded at the nearby buckets. "Grab a brush."

Kathryn did as she was told, putting down her messenger bag and picking up a scrub brush. She immediately started in to work, her motions mirroring those of the woman. "Heard there was a bit of trouble during the dance."

"One way to put it. Why do you ask? It's all over the papers."

"I don't trust newspapers."

"Your friend going to stand there all day?"

Kathryn didn't even glance at the Doctor. "Hubert's just on the shy side. Sort of my chaperone, right now at least."

"Hubert?" the Doctor sputtered.

"Just because you don't like the name doesn't mean it isn't perfectly acceptable," Kathryn replied calmly. She re-wet her brush and continued working. "What happened during the shooting?"

"Why ask me?"

"The janitor always knows."

Ms. Healy didn't argue the point. "Ten line backers with bad plastic surgery and red paint all over them came in and caused a ruckus. They killed a teacher and threatened the kids, looking for a rock."

"I believe in aliens, Ms. Healy. You can be blunt."

The Doctor saw the woman tense just a bit, then smile slightly. "Ten red aliens came into the school. They shot a teacher and terrorized the rest of us. They were looking for a transporter, it seemed very important to them. One of the students came through the gym doors and drew them away."

"How?"

Ms. Healy shot the Doctor a look. "What's it matter to you?"

"Just curious."

"He's nosy, Ms. Healy," Kathryn said, giving the Doctor a look of her own. "Did anyone show up to take care of the aliens, someone trained?"

"Long after Kavrin had saved the kids, yeah. Some group called UNIT. Everyone had British accents, so I'm not sure why they were here, but they got rid of the bodies in the gym and the other one in the alleyway."

"Alleyway?"

"Yeah. Kavrin shot some of the aliens, the leader I think, and two others. They were about to kill three students to prove a point and she shot them in rapid succession, and then took off running. The seven others followed her. UNIT found her in an alleyway a quarter mile off. One of the aliens had been stabbed three times, but it tore her shoulder up pretty bad. She had to be rushed to the ICU."

Kathryn kept scrubbing as though the news didn't bother her. "Did she make it?"

"She'll be in rehab for a long while, but she's alive."

Again, Kathryn didn't react. She finished with her section of the graffiti and dropped her scrub brush back in the bucket. "Was anyone else hurt?"

"Besides the dead teacher, no."

"I imagine her family must be very relieved."

"Proud as can be."

Kathryn nodded. The Doctor noticed that she was paler than before, but otherwise she seemed unaffected. She thought for a moment before turning back to the janitor.

"You might want to keep the real story between Kavrin and yourself. Wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

"Was that a threat?"

"Never Ms. Healy." Kathryn shook the janitor's gloved hand. "Thank you for everything. You've been wonderful."

Kathryn turned back to the Doctor. "Come on Hubert. Time to go."

"Hey!" Ms. Healy called. "You forgot your coffee."

"Not mine Margaret," Kathryn called back without turning. "Bought it for you."

The Doctor was silent for a bit, but soon had to speak. "So she lived after all."

"Yes she did." Kathryn took a shaky breath. "And that's good. She deserves to live, to thrive. She'll have a brilliant life, I know it. She really does deserve it."

"Why?"

"Doesn't everyone?"

He was quiet for another moment. "Was that your aunt or something?"

"No. Just a friend. A very good friend." Kathryn straightened and picked up her pace. "We need to move. Kavrin will show up soon. Pain or no pain, she'll come to help just as she always has. Her friends wouldn't let her do anything else."

"The Hispanic girls?"

"Yah."

"Do you still have that rock?"

"Yep. Wonder why it's so important."

"I'm sure you'll find out someday."

"I'm sure I will."

They made it back to the TARDIS and the Doctor unlocked the door, stepping just inside and leaning on the frame.

"Guess that's it," the Doctor said.

"Yep."

"Where do you plan to go?"

Kathryn shrugged. "I don't know. I think I'll just start walking and see what comes up. Always wanted to travel; what better way to do it? At least I don't look my age, right? I can pass as a young adult, so I should be alright." She smiled and gave a nod. "Goodbye then I guess. Thanks for the lift Fly-boy."

"You're sure you'll be alright?"

Kathryn nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Take care of yourself. Big job, being the sole Caretaker of Time."

The Doctor nodded. "Suppose it is."

Kathryn smiled again and turned, taking a few steps before the Doctor spoke again. "Kathryn, hang on a moment."

She turned back around. "Yeah?"

"You want to come with me?" he asked, pointing over his shoulder into the TARDIS. "It's gets kind of lonely, traveling all of time and space alone."

Kathryn raised her eyebrows. "How long have you been going by yourself?"

"Too long."

She tilted her head slightly. "Is it safe?"

"Almost never. Today was a very good day, to be honest."

"Are you asking for someone to run with?"

"Yes. And someone to stop me. As a woman I met once told me, I need that."

"You might have to stop me Doctor. I could be anyone."

"I'll take the risk."

Kathryn still didn't look entirely convinced. "I'll teach you how to fly her," the Doctor said suddenly, almost before he realized he'd thought it. Kathryn's eyes grew round.

"Really?"

"Well, we'll let you travel for a bit, then see what happens." He smiled at her. "What do you say?"

"One condition."

"What?"

"You start teaching me those five billion languages."

The Doctor's smile became a grin. "Deal."

Kathryn looked back over her shoulder, taking in the area. She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly before turning back to the Doctor, smiling. "What the hey. Might as well." She walked over to the TARDIS and stepped in with the Doctor. "Not like I've got anything to lose."

* * *

*Constrictive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*

So that's the end of my first re-write. Significantly better than the original. Next up is, of course, "Love of Fear." If you're new to the series, I strongly suggest you wait for the re-do.

Thanks again.


End file.
